India’s most awaited and game-changing Goods and Services Tax Bill was out after attaining the massive support from all the houses including the judiciary. According to the recent reports, the bill though it was implemented throughout the country from July 1st of 2017, the results were not as fruitful as they were expected to be.

Meanwhile, post the day-long meeting with state finance ministers in the powerful GST council that he heads. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the decisions “people-friendly and people-centric”, that was only 50 items will remain in the highest tax slab of 28 percent, with 178 others moved to the 18 percent bracket effective November 15.

Dining out will also become cheaper, with food at all restaurants in the country, except those in starred hotels, to be taxed at 5 percent rather than 18 percent which is imposed earlier.

The primary objective of the bill is to take care of the all classes of people, protect them from being looted. Though the four key bills regarding the GST were passed are now passed, the further backend work is now revised and below are the possible changes that went well:

1. The council has also reviewed the returns filing cycle and eased rules and deadlines for the current fiscal year. Penalties for late filing have been relaxed. The changes come amid complaints by traders and small businessmen who say GST has increased their tax and administrative burden.
2. The Finance Minister said in more tax rate changes, 13 items will move from the 18 percent slab to 12 percent, six items from 18 percent to 5 percent, eight items from 12 to 5 and six from  5 percent to nil. Under GST, goods and services are taxed in four brackets — 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent.
3. Arun Jaitley said, “The (GST) council has been reviewing and rationalizing tax rates from time to time, especially those in the tax bracket of 28 percent. Today, the council has decided to move 178 items from the tax bracket of 28 percent to 18 percent.”
4. Meanwhile, among the goods that will no longer be taxed 28 percent GST are daily use items like shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, shaving cream, aftershave lotion, shoe polish, chocolate, chewing gum and nutritious drinks.
5. Now, again, on eating out, the finance minister said that while all restaurants in and outside hotels will carry a 5 percent GST charge, at those in starred hotels with room tariffs above 7,500 a night customers will have to pay 18 per cent GST.
6. The Head of the panel, Sushil Modi, said the new changes will cost the exchequer around Rs 20,000 crore ($3.07 billion) this financial year.
7. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said opposition parties had “fought and brought down the tax rates on different items but they (the government) did not agree totally and a few essential items are still in the higher slab of 28 percent.”
8. The new GST changes come amid allegations that the government’s GST roll-out and last year’s notes ban have caused economic disruption. India’s economy is expected to grow at its slowest pace in four years in the fiscal year that ends on March 31, a Reuters poll has found.
9. “We will not allow BJP to impose a Gabbar Singh Tax on India. They cannot break the back of the small and medium businesses, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs,” tweeted Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as the GST council met.
10. The Congress has alleged that the BJP government has timed the GST review with an eye on next month’s crucial assembly elections in Gujarat, where the important voter group of small traders is upset with the new tax regime.

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